Tampa Bay Times Writer Marc Topkin Discusses The Series Between The Rays And Orioles Plus The Alex Rodriguez Situation
Tampa Bay Times writer Marc Topkin joined the Norris and Davis Show on Baltimore's 105-7 THE FAN Tuesday morning to discuss last night's game between the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays. Topkin thinks the Orioles correctly sent Alexi Casilla to try and steal second base because Fernando Rodney has not been very good with base runners to date. He tells that the Rays were a little worried earlier in the season about their starting rotation because the pitchers were not playing as expected. When asked about the performance last night, Topkin believes the Orioles had plenty of opportunities to score, and there were not a good number of great defensive plays. However, he sees last night as great bullpen pitching, not blown chances.
Topkin transitions to talk about the different moves the Rays made over the offseason and how they have panned out over the course of this season. He mentions that some of the big name pick ups were under the radar, but have become an integral part of the Rays' season. He thinks Yunel Escobar can be compared to JJ Hardy as a great offensive short stop currently in the league.
When asked about the entire Alex Rodriguez situation, Topkin thinks the entire problem has somewhere around six sides rather than a simple two. The entire situation is described as "bizarre" because you rarely see a player feud with his team, yet try and help them win games.
